KARACHI: The sales of petroleum products in the country declined by 4.0 percent on year-on-year basis to 1.38 million tons in January 2024.
The reduction in sales comes on the back of higher petroleum products prices, and slowdown in economy, experts said.
The sales of MS dropped by 5.0 percent in January 2024, clocking in at 0.61 million tons.
Similarly, HSD sales volumes also decreased by 12 percent YoY, reaching 0.51 million tons during this period. On the other hand, furnace oil (FO) sales climbed up by 28 percent YoY to 0.18 million tons in January 2024.
On a MoM basis, petroleum sales registered a growth of 12 percent during January 2024 on account of reduction in price of MS and HSD and resumption of demand for FO-based power generation due to a fall in hydel power generation in peak winters, Muhammad Iqbal Jawaid, an analyst at Arif Habib Limited said.
The sales of MS jumped up by 8.0 percent MoM while HSD dispatches remained stable on a MoM basis in January 2024.
During the first seven months of FY24, total sales of petroleum products plummeted by 13 percent YoY to 9.07 million tons vis-à-vis 10.47 million tons in the same period last year.
Product-wise data shows a reduction in all categories; the volumetric sales of MS, HSD, and FO clocked in at 4.18 million tons, 3.67 million tons, and 0.75 million tons, respectively.
On company-wise basis, the sales of PSO plummeted by 7.0 percent YoY in January 2024, which is due to a decrease in sales of MS and HSD by 11 percent and 13 percent, respectively.
In addition to this, offtake of SHEL and HASCOL witnessed a decline of 15 percent and 11 percent YoY, respectively. APL being an outlier posted a growth of 9.0 percent YoY in January 2024.
During the first seven months of FY24, petroleum sales of APL, PSO, and SHEL declined by 4.0 percent, 16 percent, and 19 percent YoY, respectively. Whereas, HASCOL’s offtake witnessed a growth of 21 percent YoY in the seven months of FY24.
During the seven months of FY24, PSO’s market share dropped by 1.3 percent to 49.7 percent vis-à-vis 51.1 percent in the same period in FY23. Whereas, the market share of SHEL dropped by 0.5 percent arriving at 7.1 percent YoY in the seven months of FY24. Moreover, the market share of APL and HASCOL in the seven months of FY24 increased to 10.3 percent (9.3 percent in the same period last year) and 2.5 percent (1.8 percent in the same period last year), respectively. Meanwhile, the market share of other OMCs remained stable at 30.4 percent in the seven months of FY24.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024